Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, September 26, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened lower after the bailout talks broke down overnight and Washington Mutual failed and was taken over by JPMorgan Chase. An hour into trading this morning, the Dow was off 78 points and the NASDAQ down 35. During mid-session, stocks stabilized as the bailout talks resumed and President Bush said an agreement was imminent. That triggered enough optimism to set off a solid late rally. The Dow Industrial Average closed up 121.07 points at 11,143.13. This week it rose twice and fell three times, had a net loss of 245.31 points. The NASDAQ fell 3.23 to 2,183.34 today. And it also rose twice and fell three times this week, losing 90.56 points overall. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 4.09 to 1,213.27 today and for the week it dropped 41.81 points overall. In the bond market, the 10-year note rose 3/32 to 101 7/32, putting the yield at 3.85 percent.
Big Board volume leader on 54 million shares, National City Corp. (NCC), down $1.28. Standard & Poor's sees the stock weak on the delay of a bailout agreement and also the company's similarity to Washington Mutual. The company, however, said it has sufficient capital to weather the storm.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) moved up $4.74, as you heard, it's taking over Washington Mutual (WM). And after the close today, Standard & Poor's said it's removing Washington Mutual from the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and replacing it with a company called Flowserve (FLS).
Wachovia (WB) down $3.70. It also has large exposure to potential mortgage losses. And as you heard, New York Times reported that the company is in early talks with Citigroup.
American International Group (AIG) up $0.13.
Citigroup (C) itself was up $0.74. Fifth in Big Board volume. Bank of America (BAC) up $2.33. It's acquiring Merrill Lynch (MER), as we know.
Freddie Mac (FRE) in there with a $0.14 gain.
Pfizer (PFE) up $0.02.
Companhia Vale (RIO) down $1.37.
And GE (GE) was a $0.43 loss.
Boeing (BA) moved up $0.90. The company received 24 jet liner orders from an unidentified customer or two this past week, and that's even as the machinist strike continues. Also the company is acquiring Tapestry Solutions, a parts-tracking firm. No terms were disclosed as to how much they're paying.
Fertilizer stocks very weak today as Citigroup downgraded them. And so did RBC Capital because of the instability of the price of nitrogen. Agrium (AGU), CF (CF), Mosaic (MOS), Potash (POT), and Terra Industries (TRA) all major losers.
Another weak group, the energy stocks on concern about the health of the U.S. economy. Hess Company (HES), the big oil, down $6.52; and Massey (MEE) and Peabody (BTU) are coal producers and both had substantial losses.
Oshkosh Corp. (OSK) up $1.44. The company's fourth-quarter earnings came in above its previous guidance, or it's predicting that. The previous guidance was $0.50 to $0.65. And that is thanks to the cost-cutting measures that the firm is taking.
AZZ Incorporated (AZZ), this company makes electrical equipment. And second-quarter earnings were $0.92, way up from $0.66 a year ago, $0.12 better than the Street was expecting.
Moving along, Synnex Corporation (SNX) up $2.50. Third-quarter earnings there, $0.66, up from $0.46 a year ago, $0.08 above the Street estimate. Revenues up 16 percent.
And Mentor Corporation (MNT), a breast implant company, down $1.32. The Jefferies brokerage downgraded it from buy to just a hold.
NASDAQ's most active, Research In Motion (RIMM), tumbling $26.77. After the close yesterday, as we reported, second-quarter earnings at $0.86 were a penny below Street estimates, but gross margins were also slipping. And today Citigroup downgraded it from buy to hold.
Apple (AAPL) in there with a $3.69 loss. It traded as low as $1.23 today.
Microsoft (MSFT) up $0.79, bucking the trend.
Google (GOOG) down $8.56.
Then came Cisco Systems (CSCO) with a $0.34 gain.
Intel (INTC), a $0.63 advance.
Qualcomm (QCOM) down $0.70.
Oracle (ORCL), a $0.15 advance.
Amgen (AMGN) up $0.74.
And Baidu.com (BIDU) tumbled $14.75.
Elsewhere in NASDAQ trading, Perfumania (PERF) lost about 51.5 percent of its value after the company cut its third-quarter same-store sales forecast from plus 5 percent to minus 2.5 percent.
And those are the "Stocks in the News" tonight.
